About Gold Digger: The Lost Mines for Windows: A cross between Lode Runner and Donkey Kong

If you enjoyed other platform games, such as Lode Runner or Donkey Kong,
you may enjoy Gold Digger. Gold Digger offers a better balance of strategy
and action than traditional platform arcade games.

Gold Digger is a classic-style, multi-screen platform game with a
well-designed balance of strategy and arcade-style action.
You use a grappling hook
and dynamite to mine gold while out-smarting the adversaries.
The game includes 175 built-in
screens and the ability to create your own screens. Ages 7 and older will
love the game, and parents will like that you are rewarded for finishing
screens without harming your adversaries. The built-in hints will help keep
anyone from becoming frustrated.

You are limited to
7
of the 175 built-in screens until you register
for the full version by purchasing a registration code for
$14.99
(U.S. dollars).

Technical people will like that the game is only installed in the designated program directory
and the un-install is 100% clean. The game runs well on new or old
computers. A 90Mhz Pentium with 32MB of RAM and 20MB of free hard drive space
is the minimum required. The game runs on any Windows version 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP.
A Joystick is optional. DirectX is not required but the game will
use DirectX if it is available. Gold Digger was carefully tested for
reliability, so it will not interfere with other software on your computer.

Q: Can I distribute screens I make for Gold Digger?
A: Yes! You must include a description that says a registered copy
of the game is required to play the screens.
However, you can NOT share your registration code. A separate registration code
must be purchased for each computer that runs Gold Digger. See the License document
that comes with the software for complete details.

Q: What is a Registration Code? Why do I need one?
A: When you download Gold Digger 'The Lost Mines', you get a useful but limited version
of the game. This is called the unregistered version, and is intended to
let you try the game before you buy the game. When you buy the
game, you will receive a registration code and instructions to register
the game. After you enter this registration code, you will have full access
to the game's features including: all 175 built-in screens, the ability
to make and save your own screens, and the ability to play screens made
by other people.
You can buy a registration code using the secure online order form.
The cost is
$14.99
(U.S. dollars).

Q: The arrow keys don't move my claims agent character?
A: By default, when you first install and run the game, the keys
are set-up depending on the type of keyboard you have. You can see what
they default keys are, and also change them by selecting
Key and Joystick Controls from the Settings menu.
Then you can pick whatever keys you want to
move your man by clicking the buttons, and then pressing the key to
control that direction.

Q: The game runs very slow or very fast?
A: You can change the game speed during a game by pressing
the Control key and a number key; you probably pressed this by
mistake. Select
Game Speed from the Settings
menu to fix the speed.
Also, the game might run slow if you have many other programs running at the same time.

Q: Why can't I maximize the Gold Digger window? Why doesn't the game take up my whole display?
A: By default Gold Digger runs in its largest window size for the current
resolution of your display. You can set Gold Digger to run in a larger window
from the Game Window Size option under the Settings menu. If the largest
window size is grayed out, select a higher Screen Resolution for your display from the
Settings tab in Window's Display control panel. You need to select
a resolution of at least 1200 horizontal pixels for Gold Digger's largest window
to become available. This is a feature of Gold Digger to ensure the highest
degree of compatibility with other programs running on your computer.

Q: Are there any "cheat" keys?
A: Yes. During a game if you press I+Control (hold the letter I and then press the
control key) a menu appears. Select one of the options to increase your health,
lives, etc. Rememeber if you do this you cannot receive a high score for that
game!

Q: I can't save the changes I made to screens in the editor?
A: If you have not yet registered the game, you cannot save changes.

Q: How can I make changes to 'The Official Lost Mines' and 'Novice Mines' screens?
A: You cannot save changes directly to 'The Official Lost Mines' or the
'Novice Mines.' To change these screens, first select Create New Screen File from the
Screen File
menu.
Then go back and forth between your new screen file and
'The Official Lost Mines' screens by selecting the file names from the
bottom of the
Screen File
menu. Use Copy and Paste under the Screen
menu to copy from 'The Official Lost Mines' to your own screens. You will then
be able to save changes to the screens in your own screens file.

Q: I need help solving a screen in 'The Official Lost Mines?'
A: First, go to the screen you are having difficulty with and
select Show Hints from the Screen menu. Then if you still
have problems with the screen send an e-mail request for help to the
master Gold Digger player,
Vince White. Specify what screen
number and be as specific as you can about your difficult situation.

Q: Is it always possible to collect all of the gold on a screen? I have
had a hard time with some gold up high.
A: You can collect unburied gold that is up high by tossing the hook at it.
However, you cannot always collect all of the gold. For example, in
The Official Lost Mines you cannot
collect the gold buried in the upper left part of screen 3. Sometimes there is gold
that you can collect but you should not collect because it will prevent you
from exiting a screen through a door. This is the situation on screen 2 if you
mine all of the gold and do not have a hook and rope.

Q: Sometimes the robot will drive into a spot and fall to his death and
sometimes he will stop. What makes the difference?
A: The Robot (and all of the adversaries) plan moves in advance.
If you time dynamite to explode a section of ground after the robot plans
a move over that section of ground, then the robot will move there and fall.
The robot only plans a distance of about three sections of ground ahead,
so it takes careful timing if you intend to make the Robot fall.
See screen 8 of The Official Lost Mines for a situation where the hints
advise you to use this technique to trap the Robot.
Incidentally other adversaries can plan further ahead than the Robot.
For additional insight into how intelligently
each adversary can make pursuit, see
How to Edit Screens under the Help
menu.

Q: I can't distinguish between an open bottom and a hard floor bottom of
the screen. Is there a visual cue to let me know which is which?

A: Yes, when the gold box that surrounds the game data at the bottom
of the screen is closed at the top, the screen has a hard floor bottom.

Q: Sometimes gold will drop off the screen if dislodged from the
rock. Try as I might, I could not jump across and grab it while it
fell. How was I supposed to get this gold?
A: Gold and treasures that fall through the bottom of a screen are lost.

Q: I purchased a registration code for the Macintosh version a long time ago
and now I have a Windows computer. Do I get a free registration code for the
Windows version?
A: No. Did Microsoft give you a free Windows computer when you
decided to switch from the Macintosh? ... Seriously, the Macintosh and Windows
editions are two different products. A lot of time and money went into developing
each edition so we believe the small price we charge for each separate
edition is fair.

Download more screens

In addition to 'The Official Lost Mines' screens that come with
Gold Digger, you can download and play more screens.
Click here
Click here to browse through and download more screen files.
Remember, you need a registered copy of Gold Digger to play most of
these additional screens, and many of these screens were not made
by T&T Software so we probably will not be able to help if you get
stuck.